Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

Thanks to symyt for the monthly pass.

-

In May, Baidu's IPO entered its final countdown.

Lu Chen mortgaged a portion of his holdings in his US stock account to borrow two million US dollars in margin from a brokerage firm. Combined with his existing cash reserves, he raised five million US dollars for the subscription.

He needs to secure enough leverage as soon as Baidu goes public.

His memories from his past life told him that Baidu submitted its prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2004, with the specific listing date being August.

He needs to buy at least 180,000 shares at the offering price during the opening auction on the first day of listing.

This is a battle with only a few seconds' window of opportunity.

In late June, the audition stage of "Super Girl" was recorded and broadcast on Hunan TV.

This show has had a rough but authentic feel from the very beginning.

There was no glamorous stage, no professional lighting, just ordinary girls standing in front of the camera, singing their favorite songs.

However, the show's ratings soared to number one in its time slot in the third episode, and online discussions were overwhelming.

Who is that girl who sang "Sour and Sweet Is Me"?

"The judges were so harsh! They made that young girl cry!"

When will the SMS voting channel open? I want to vote for my favorite contestant!

Lu Chen looked at the online comments in his office, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Wang Yan pushed open the door and came in, his face beaming with joy.

"Brother Lu! Brother Lu!"

"Wait a minute, I have something to ask you."

"What is it? Tell me."

"You know Shang Yang, right? Do you know what his last words were before he died?"

"?" Wang Yan was full of questions.

Lu Chen smiled mysteriously. "He said, 'That's a bit far-fetched.'"

After speaking, he looked at Wang Yan's reaction, but Wang Yan didn't react at all.

"Ha, not funny, huh? Well, I have another one, listen to it. There was a little boy who... because of an accident..."

"Brother Lu, let's talk jokes later, let's get down to business first." Wang Yan looked at Lu Chen speechlessly.

"Okay, sure. What is it?"

Do you know how much revenue was generated from SMS voting for "Super Girl"?

"How many?"

"Four million. Single issue."

"So what?"

"We split it into 25 percent."

That's one million.

"Single episode," Wang Yan repeated, "There are still more than ten episodes to go, plus the finals."

"There's one more thing." Wang Yan took out a list from his bag. "Those players you asked me to keep an eye on are all pretty good."

Lu Chen took the list and glanced at it.

Li Yuchun, 20 years old, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, has an androgynous style and extremely strong stage presence.

Zhou Bichang, 19 years old, Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, has a solid foundation in R&B and wears black-rimmed glasses.

Zhang Liangying, 19 years old, is a resident singer in a bar in Chengdu. She has a dolphin-like high note and a strong foundation in English songs.

"This one," Lu Chen said, pointing to Zhang Liangying's name, "go and make contact with her."

"Zhang Liangying?" Wang Yan was taken aback. "Isn't that the girl who sang the theme song for 'Stone'?"

"Do you know her?"

"How could I not recognize her?" "You asked me to arrange for her to stay in the Beijing Film Academy dormitory for one night, wasn't that the acting department dormitory I took her to?"

"That makes things even easier," Lu Chen said. "Contact her."

"But Li Yuchun looks more like a champion."

"I knew this girl was capable when she sang the theme song." Lu Chen paused for a moment.

"Also, Yifei and she have a good relationship."

"Does Liu Yifei know her?"

"When we were doing post-production on 'Stone' last year, Yifei came to the recording studio and we had a good chat. Later, when Yifei went to Chengdu to film location scenes for 'Chinese Paladin,' she even went to the bar where Zhang Liangying was performing to listen to her sing."

Wang Yan nodded. "I'll make the arrangements."

He wrote it down in his notebook.

"There's one more thing. Mr. Yang from Emperor Entertainment asked when the broadcasting rights for 'Chinese Paladin' will be signed?"

"After the film is finished being edited, let him see the sample footage first, and then he can name his price."

"You're that confident?"

"Of course."

After listening to Lu Chen's arrangements, Wang Yan turned to leave but then turned back.

"Brother Lu, were you deliberately telling me a lame joke to cheer me up?"

Lu Chen glanced at him sideways. "Are you worthy? I'm just practicing and seeing which one is funnier."

"Alright, then Young Master Lu, you can practice first. Once you've practiced enough, I reckon a certain girl will enjoy listening to you."

"Get lost!"

In July, Wang Yan flew to Chengdu.

He found Zhang Liangying at the "Music House" bar.

She was singing an English song on stage. The lights were dim, and there weren't many audience members.

Three hours later, he returned to the hotel and called Lu Chen.

"Signed?"

"It's signed. A five-year exclusive management contract, with Coordinates Music taking 60% and her taking 40%."

"What are the conditions?"

"No conditions."

"Prepare all her songs. English songs, Chinese songs, covers, originals, all of them, and put them up as ringtones. Once she becomes famous, promote her directly."

In August, "Chinese Paladin" premiered on Hunan TV.

A week before the actual broadcast, a 30-second trailer for "Super Girl" had already generated a week's worth of buzz. This trailer boosted the ratings for its time slot by three percentage points.

It's all because of that ethereal girl in the picture, Liu Yifei.

There are over two thousand discussion threads on Tianya Film and Television. Some people are analyzing the original game plot, some are analyzing the actors' costume photos, and some are analyzing why Lu Chen switched from dark comedy to filming fantasy.

"A Golden Horse Award-winning director making a video game adaptation? He's lowering his own standards."

"This domestically produced fantasy drama has cheap special effects and a melodramatic plot; it's destined to flop."

"Liu Yifei is only sixteen years old, can she really carry a leading role?"

The reviews were almost unanimously negative; nobody had high hopes for it.

At 7:50 p.m., there were still ten minutes until the premiere of "Chinese Paladin".

The ad for Mengniu's yogurt drink is playing, and it earned over eight million yuan in a single order.

Lu Chen sat in the office with Wang Yan, with a small television in front of them.

"Are you nervous, Brother Lu?"

"What's with the tension? Don't you have confidence in our film?" Lu Chen said.

"Of course there will be a lot, but I'm worried that online comments might affect our ratings."

"Don't worry about it."

There's no reason why a powerful weapon from his past life would become useless in Lu Chen's hands; he has full confidence in the immortal sword.

At 8:00 sharp, the opening theme song began.

The scene cuts across the mist of Fairy Island, the clouds of Mount Shu, and the snow of Nanzhao.

The words "Director Lu Chen" appeared on the screen.

At the beginning, Li Xiaoyao is daydreaming in the inn, dreaming that he is flying on a sword, and is woken up by Aunt Li's spoon.

He didn't know how the viewers in front of the television would react.

But his phone started vibrating.

"Real-time viewership monitoring shows it broke 1% within seven minutes of airing!"

Zhao Ling'er made her first appearance at 8:12.

Fairy Island, Lotus Pond.

Liu Yifei stood up from the water, water droplets dripping from her hair, and turned back with a smile.

The image freezes.

"Breaked 2% at 8:13!"

Lu Chen didn't reply. He placed his phone face down on the coffee table and calmly lay back on the sofa.

He knew that from this moment on, the name Zhao Ling'er, or rather Liu Yifei, would be etched into the memories of a generation.

After the first episode ended, Ouyang Changlin called.

"Xiao Lu, guess how many calls our station's hotline received right after the first episode aired?"

"Since Minister Ouyang has said so, it must be a number that exceeds expectations?"

"More than 1,200. They're all asking about replay times and whether they can play on demand."

"Then we've both won, haha." Winning means I, Lu Chen, have won twice.

"Also, there's something else," Ouyang Changlin lowered his voice, "several TV stations have contacted me, asking if I could buy the rights to broadcast the shows a second time."

"Thank you for reminding me, Director Ouyang. I have a better understanding now."

Ouyang Changlin laughed loudly.

"Okay, then I'm relieved. I look forward to working with you again."